Following a stroke, Milena Channing lost her vision and was told by doctors in Scotland that she would remain blind for life. Shortly after, she began to notice the outlines of objects in motion – running water, rain, steam from her tea – but her claims were shrugged off as fantasy. Eventually, however, it became clear that certain motion-detecting operations in her brain were still working, despite her primary visual cortex being entirely non-functional. A visual adaptation of a story from US National Public Radio’s news programme All Things Considered, The Blind Woman Who Saw Rain is a fascinating exploration of the complexity of our senses.
Producer: Adam Cole
videoMedicine
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11 minutes
videoIllness and disease
Humanity eradicated smallpox 45 years ago. It’s a story worth remembering
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videoCognition and intelligence
A father forgets his child’s name for the first time in this poetic reflection on memory
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videoBioethics
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videoNeuroscience
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videoEvolution
How – and how not – to think about the role randomness plays in evolution
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videoNeuroscience
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videoBiography and memoir
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videoMood and emotion
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58 minutes